With help from Tanya Snyder
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Morning Transportation will not be published on Monday, Jan. 20. We’ll be back on our normal schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
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— A new report on the development of the 737 MAX, commissioned by DOT and written by aviation industry experts, opposes large changes to the FAA’s certification system.
— Democrats will roll out an infrastructure framework after next week’s recess. There’s a new hurdle for them, too: How to respond to the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, which has strong industry backing.
— The head of the House Transportation Committee is demanding answers from the freight rail industry after a report revealed that several railroads funded climate change denial groups.
HAPPY FRIDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Get in touch with tips, feedback or song lyric suggestions at smintz@politico.com or @samjmintz.
LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, rails, rivers and runways.
NEW REPORT DEFENDS FAA’S 737 MAX CERTIFICATION: The DOT-commissioned review released Thursday largely exonerated the FAA for its role in developing the Boeing 737 MAX and cautioned against major changes to the agency’s delegation program or certification overall, our Brianna Gurciullo reports. “Any radical changes to this system could undermine the collaboration and expertise that undergird the current certification system, jeopardizing the remarkable level of safety that has been attained in recent decades,” wrote the panel, comprised of five aviation industry experts.
That analysis could put a damper on the emerging momentum among some congressional leaders, who see the FAA’s oversight of airplane certification as inadequate and are discussing yet-to-be-specified changes to the FAA’s system. But House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) pledged to push forward regardless. “346 people died because the system failed. Despite the wishes of industry, it would be the height of irresponsibility to leave the [Organization Designation Authorization] system as is and just hope for the best the next time,” he said in a statement.
The panel did recommend several changes, including that the FAA and industry work together to “address concerns about potential undue pressure” on private employees that perform tasks on behalf of the agency. It also called for the FAA to focus on workforce development and build its staff.
But Michael Stumo, whose daughter died in the MAX crash in Ethiopia, called those recommendations largely “cosmetic changes.” Stumo, along with other family members of the victims of the two crashes, have called for wholesale changes to the certification system. “Out of 67 pages, there’s two mentions that people died. The rest of it is about keeping up with innovation in the aviation industry, which is how we got here,” Stumo said.
REMOTE ID RULE ARRIVES, SPARKS IMMEDIATE CONTROVERSY: It took years for the FAA to release its proposed remote identification rule, but It took only days for a debate to break out over whether it takes the right approach, Brianna writes.
The central issue is a requirement that drones send information over an internet connection. As we mentioned in MT earlier this week, leading drone manufacturer DJI thinks that standard will be expensive and complicated. But there’s no industry consensus. Joshua Ziering, a founder of Kittyhawk, which sells software for managing drone fleets, defended network-based remote ID, saying the concerns about cost are “overblown” and demonstrations have shown “an internet-connected drone has far more opportunity to declare its intentions and share that information with a wider audience.”
AN INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN IS COMING: We’ve heard it before, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that House Democrats are planning to roll out an infrastructure framework at the end of the month, our Tanya Snyder reports, having given up on crafting a package with the White House. “So far they have not come on board,” Pelosi said. “However, we’ve decided now we’ll just have to go forward.”
THEY LOVE IT. CAN THEY KEEP IT? The project permitting changes that the Council on Environmental Quality released in a proposed rule last week made industry swoon, but congressional Democrats are unmoved. They don’t want more “streamlining” provisions on top of the dozens that have been adopted since 2012, many of which they say haven’t been fully implemented. But there will be enormous pressure on lawmakers crafting the next surface transportation bill to go along with the CEQ changes, or risk the wrath of the industry.
No way, Gateway: The streamlining push won’t help one of the nation’s biggest infrastructure projects, though. The proposed rule would not apply to existing projects in the pipeline and would not force the government to consider projects it deems to lack a “reasonable expectation” of funding, as in Gateway’s case.
DEFAZIO DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM RAILROADS ON CLIMATE: DeFazio had sharp words for the Association of American Railroads on Thursday, following a bombshell article in The Atlantic last month that revealed the four biggest freight railroads have been major funders of the climate denial movement. DeFazio pointed to the association’s claims that railroads are committed to protecting the environment and reducing emissions, suggesting that those values are at odds with funding groups like American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
“I write with a simple question: is this true? And if so, how can your organization continue to tout the environmental benefits of freight railroads while these same railroads are funding organizations who deny climate change?” he wrote.
AAR spokesperson Jessica Kahanek said the organization is reviewing DeFazio’s letter. “Railroads remain committed to a greener future, which is why they have taken numerous steps to reduce their carbon footprint in light of climate change,” she said, including deploying low emissions equipment and idle reduction technologies and increasing fuel efficiency.
TRUCKING GROUP, LAWMAKER CALL OUT FEDERAL RESPONSE TO SAFETY COMPLAINTS: Coercion in the trucking industry, which is when a company threatens to punish a driver for refusing to violate safety regulations, remains a big problem, and FMCSA should be doing more to address complaints, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas). As your host reports, they claim complaints often elicit no response or are even lost in the system. FMCSA said it takes coercion seriously, but welcomes input from Congress. Babin asked for stats on how many complaints have been received and how the agency responded. FMCSA would not provide POLITICO with that information.
DRUG CLEARINGHOUSE UPDATE: We reported last month that there were some industry worries about the launch of a new FMCSA drug and alcohol clearinghouse, designed to collect data about truck driver violations, and then require companies to use it when hiring new employees. Well, the database opened on Jan. 6, and it’s off to a rocky start. FMCSA acknowledged on the clearinghouse website that the system is having trouble verifying drivers’ information. There are some other tech issues, too, according to Abigail Potter of the American Trucking Associations: Some users are experiencing long delays and not getting notifications they should be.
SANDERS GETS COVETED NUMTOT ENDORSEMENT: New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens, a 180,000-strong millennial-run Facebook group, has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. The page’s administrators said in a post this week that their support stems from Sanders’ plans for affordable housing, decarbonization of the transportation sector, and funding for high-speed rail and public transit. If you don’t know about NUMTOT, now you know.
Sanders thanked NUMTOT in a post on its page. “Together, we are going to enact a homes guarantee, we are going to take on the fossil fuel industry to pass a Green New Deal, and we are going to invest in high-quality, affordable public transportation,” he said.
Side note: As of this week, your host is officially a member of the page and promises to occasionally share the very best transit memes.
— “Small local suppliers flying blind through 737 Max crisis.” Herald Net.
— “EASA cautions airlines about flying over Iran.” POLITICO Pro Europe.
— “Southwest pulls Boeing Max until June as airlines dig in for delays ahead of peak summer season.” CNBC.
— “Trucking industry scores another court win against new labor law.” POLITICO Pro California.
— “Foxconn and Fiat Chrysler will make electric cars for China.” The Verge.
DOT appropriations run out in 258 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,353 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 258 days.
